


handmade heaven

by yawwwrp



Category: K-pop, Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, Family, Fluff, M/M, Pining, Secret Crush, Single Parents, police officer!changbin, single dad!minho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:42:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28779225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yawwwrp/pseuds/yawwwrp
Summary: Single father Minho owns a restaurant in a small town. His best friend is a local police officer named Changbin who helps look after his six year old son and generally just has a lot of feelings about and for Minho.
Relationships: Bang Chan/Han Jisung | Han, Lee Minho | Lee Know/Seo Changbin, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 129
Kudos: 127





	1. A restaurant in the middle of nowhere

**Author's Note:**

> ayoooo~
> 
> i hope you're all doing well! :D  
> just finished my first week at the new job and i'm insanely happy to have a weekend off i am EXHAUSTED
> 
> i think it's high time i turn minho into a loving single dad so i started writing this!  
> title comes from Handmade Heaven by Marina

Steam rises up from the dish placed in front of Changbin and the smell makes his mouth water. He looks up from the meal at Minho with a smile.

“Thank you!”

Minho smiles back and sits down across from him at the table. “Enjoy your meal!” He pushes a coloring book a little further away from the little boy sitting next to him. “You eat too, Yoonie.”

The little boy smacks his lips in response and starts eating as Minho watches him with a fond smile. Changbin looks up from his food to take in the picture of Minho ruffling his son’s hair.

“He’s gotten so big now”, he mumbles and swallows his food. “Yoonjo, how old are you now?”

Yoonjo immediately stops eating to beam at Changbin, holding up his hands to show his fingers. “I’m six now!”

Changbin lets out an impressed whistle, much to the joy of Yoonjo who again gets reminded by Minho to eat his food. “Time flies.”

Minho hums in agreement and gets up from their table as the bell on the door chimes to welcome the new guests. He’s been running his small restaurant in their tiny town for six years now and he still remembers the day he opened it. Yoonjo was only a few months old then and his wife left them both to move to Europe over the summer, leaving Minho with no chance but to start over a new life. A life he enjoys now, watching his son grow up and getting to be his own boss. He was a mess back then, hurt from his relationship, overworked and lonely, and he created his own little world since then with Yoonjo and Changbin and his other friends in town. 

As he passes the new guests’ order on to his chef Seungmin, he watches Changbin and Yoonjo chat over their lunch. 

“Binnie, when can I become a police man like you? When I’m seven?”

Changbin laughs at the question and Minho smiles at the way his face crinkles and he pats some food off of Yoonjo’s face with a napkin. “I think you need to grow a little taller first, kiddo. But you’ll get there in no time. Just don’t tell your dad I said that.”

Yoonjo giggles at the wink Changbin gives him and focuses back on his food. Changbin’s eyes wander over to Minho and he catches him staring. His eyes widen comically and he mimes not having said anything and all Minho can do is huff a laugh at his antics.

Once Minho has served the other table, he joins Changbin and Yoonjo again.

“Anything interesting happening at the police station?”

Changbin rolls his eyes at him. “Please. As if anything ever happens here. I just caught the Cho boy stealing a bike again.”

“Stealing is bad”, Yoonjo pipes up and pushes his empty plate away from him, grabbing the coloring book again.

“The divorce is finally through”, Minho says after a while and Changbin makes a surprised face.

“For real this time? She actually signed it?”

Minho nods and stacks the empty plates. “Yeah, I guess she found herself a new man.”

“That’s great! Congratulations!”

With one look at Changbin, Minho can tell that he is sincerely and genuinely happy for him and it fills him with happiness as well. “Stopping by for a celebratory drink later?”

Yoonjo stops coloring to look up at his dad. “Drinking is bad, dad!”

The feeling of giddy excitement doesn’t leave Changbin until he’s back at the police station, taking in his partner’s worried look. Felix has been his partner for the past three years and as enthusiastic as he is, he is also a damn good cop. He is currently looking over some files with a crease between his eyebrows and only looks up once when Changbin enters the room.

“The neighboring town has kids disappearing”, Felix mutters as he reads. “We might be called in to help out.”

Yoonjo’s smile, missing one of his teeth - the first one that fell out last week - and shining brightly, flashes through Changbin’s mind. “Any suspects so far?”

Felix shakes his head with a sigh. “Nothing.They’re doing all they can though.”

As Changbin starts working on some paperwork, he makes a mental note to keep a close eye on this case and an even closer one on Yoonjo.

Once Changbin gets off duty, he quickly rushes home to take a shower and change his clothes before picking up some beer and snacks from the convenience store near Minho’s restaurant. Minho still lives above his restaurant and even though Changbin offered him to find him a great deal on a nicer apartment or even a small house in town, Minho just waved him off, saying that it was more convenient this way.

The all too familiar jittery feelings rise up in Changbin as he presses Minho’s doorbell a little after seven in the evening and he wills himself to calm down as he has done many times before.

The door opens and Yoonjo smiles up at Changbin, immediately tackling him and wrapping his small arms around his legs.

“Yoonie, how many times do I have to tell you not to open the door!” Minho appears in the hallway behind Yoonjo with an exhausted face. “What if it was some stranger?”

Yoonjo lets go of Changbin’s legs to let him enter the apartment. “But it’s Binnie!”

“Yes, but you couldn’t have known that. Just don’t open the door for anyone, okay?” Minho watches as Changbin kicks off his shoes and hands Yoonjo some snacks that he happily runs off to the living room with.

“I brought beer and some stuff to eat”, Changbin tells him with amusement ringing in his voice.

Minho finally cracks a smile and takes the beer from him. “You’re a lifesaver.”

An hour later, Yoonjo is eventually defeated in a dramatic battle about going to bed and Minho sinks down on the couch next to Changbin, cracking open a can of beer and handing it to Changbin before opening another one for himself.

Changbin watches him take a sip for a moment. “Rough day today?”

Minho shakes his head. “No more than usual. For you?”

Right. He should tell Minho about the kids. “Not really. Keep a good eye on Yoonjo though there’s some creep one town over abducting children.”

“Really? Jesus.” Minho raises an eyebrow. “Thanks for letting me know. Do you want to watch a movie or something? Cheer us up a bit?” He senses that Changbin is still thinking about the case and pats his arm lightly. “Don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll catch the kidnapper soon.”


	2. Sitting in a tree

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyall! :D
> 
> i feel very emo and soft today and i'm making it everyone's problem~
> 
> hope you will enjoy this one and have a great day/night! :)

The movie is… well, Changbin really tried to pay attention to it, really. But ten minutes ago, Minho started leaning slightly to the left and has since moved on to just cuddling up to Changbin’s side and you know, his attention is fully focused on the sleeping figure next to him instead of the movie now. Changbin cranes his neck forward a little bit to see that Minho’s eyes are firmly shut and his lips slightly parted. In the dark room his face is only illuminated by the light coming from the tv and Changbin just stays in this position for a moment to look at him. 

He fell in love with Minho years ago - pretty much on the second day that he had known him. Back then, Minho was constantly exhausted and sad and just had his hands full with Yoonjo still being a baby and opening the restaurant, so Changbin tried his best to help him as much as he could. Minho couldn’t offer him anything in return other than free meals at the restaurant and a grateful smile - Changbin declined the first one but was more than happy to receive the latter. Over the years, he just kind of stuck with Minho and the initial attraction bloomed into a full blown love that was unfortunately unrequited but still something he couldn’t let go. Of course, Changbin got offers to go on dates in the past and he even tried that, once. It didn’t end well and Changbin has pretty much just resigned himself to be tragically forever in love with his best friend. Lucky for him, Minho was never interested in getting into another relationship, mostly because he thought that it would put Yoonjo through a lot of trouble if it didn’t work out.

Changbin’s eyes drift down to the tilted, half empty can of beer in Minho’s hands, which he grabs and softly puts on the coffee table before leaning back again. Minho curls a hand into his shirt in his sleep and rubs his face against his shoulder for a moment.

Fumbling for the remote, Changbin turns the volume of the movie down a little bit and hears soft footsteps on the wooden floor shortly before a sleepy Yoonjo enters the living room.

“Dad?” 

His voice is a quiet mumble which thankfully doesn’t wake up Minho. Changbin softly props Minho against the back of the couch, careful not to wake him and gets up to ruffle Yoonjo’s hair.

“Did you have a nightmare?”, he whispers and Yoonjo nods with a pout. “Come on, I’ll tuck you in again.”

He leads Yoonjo back to his bedroom and sits at the foot of the bed as Yoonjo crawls in, rubbing his eyes with a yawn.

“You know, nightmares are really scary”, Changbin starts as he puts the blanket over Yoonjo. “But they can’t hurt you. Nightmares are just like scary movies in your head and once you’re awake, they just-” He stops to gesture an explosion with his hands. “Poof! They’re gone.”

Yoonjo giggles at the little animation. “Will I have a nightmare again if I go back to sleep?”

Changbin hands Yoonjo his little tiger plushie and he grabs it tightly, cuddling it close to his chest, eyes already closing again. “You might. You never know what you will dream of, that’s kind of the beauty of it. It can be a nightmare but you could also dream of a world made of chocolate chip cookies and a whole city of little tigers who want to be your friends.”

Yoonjo smiles sleepily while Changbin talks and by the time he finishes his sentence, he’s already fast asleep. Changbin can’t help the fond smile spreading across his face as he watches Yoonjo. He’s accepted the little rascal into his heart just as quickly as he had Minho.

After a moment, Changbin gets up and jumps a little when he sees Minho leaning against the doorframe of Yoonjo’s bedroom, watching them.

“Thanks”, he whispers. “Sorry I fell asleep.”

Changbin shakes his head at him and pats him softly on the back as they walk back to the living room. It’s late and Minho should get some sleep too, so Changbin clears the coffee table for him even though Minho insists that he doesn’t have to.

“I’ll get going then - you should get some rest.”

Minho cracks a tired smile and pulls Changbin into a quick hug. “Thanks again.”

Two days later, Yoonjo is way too energetic for Minho as he’s packing his lunch box. 

“And the fire people will be there and Binnie and his friends”, Yoonjo mumbles around a breakfast sandwich while Minho packs the lunch box into his school bag. 

“Fire department, not fire people. I will pick you up after your last class, so wait at the entrance for me, okay?”

Yoonjo was constantly talking about the career day the older classes were having for the past two days and now that the day has finally come, his excitement has only intensified.

“Have a good day at school! I love you”, Minho calls after Yoonjo from the car as he dashes off to the school entrance, bright blue school bag bouncing on his back with every step.

Compared to the older school kids, the young ones are an absolute cake walk if you ask Changbin. Where they got bored faces and empty stares before, the six to ten year olds are buzzing with interest when Changbin and Felix talk about their job.

The school bell chimes and signifies the end of their last class and Changbin and Felix immediately get swarmed by an army of children who still have questions.

Felix gets his hat stolen immediately by two girls who tell him that he’s pretty and Changbin can’t hold back his laughter.

“Mr. Police Man, Yoonjo says that you are his friend. Is that true?”, a tall boy with a doubtful face asks and Changbin smiles at him.

“Well, we are everyone’s friend and helper. But yes, I know Yoonjo very well.”

The kid still doesn’t look convinced. Yoonjo sidles up to him and announces with a proud voice, “Binnie takes care of me and my dad!”

This prompts several children to laugh at him and start a chant of “Yoonjo’s dad and Officer Seo sitting in a tree” which makes Yoonjo pout.

Changbin tries to settle the crowd with a hand to motion them to quiet down a bit. “I’m a good friend of Yoonjo and his dad but we are not together. I am more than happy to be everyone’s friend though!”

Felix side eyes him with a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows but Changbin ignores him.

Minho eventually gets impatient waiting in the car and sighs as he gets out and locks it again. Did he or did he not tell Yoonjo to wait at the entrance after class? He walks to Yoonjo’s classroom and is not surprised to find both Changbin and his partner surrounded by a bunch of noisy school kids.

“Well, we are everyone’s friend and helper. But yes, I know Yoonjo very well.”

Minho waits in the doorway, watching the police officer’s struggle to get a school class to behave. 

“Binnie takes care of me and my dad!”

Oh no, not good. Minho mentally face palms and watches as a flustered Changbin tries to calm down heckling calls, feeling his ears grow hot. Truth be told, ever since he’s known Changbin, he’s thought about him many times. And many of those thoughts were not really friend territory, though Minho would take that to his grave. Changbin was the first man that Minho ever actually found attractive years ago when he had always been around to help him with Yoonjo and was just overall an amazingly sweet guy. After having a mental breakdown and the following realization that he maybe wasn’t as straight as he’d always thought, Minho thought about telling Changbin about his feelings. But he doesn’t know if he even swings that way and even if he does, who is to say that he would even be interested in formerly a mess, now doing pretty alright Lee Minho? On top of that, it would ruin his friendship if he ever told Changbin and it didn’t work out and being gay as a cop was probably not a cake walk, Minho guesses. So with all of these revelations and worries, Minho eventually decided to just bury his feelings deep inside him and value Changbin for the amazing friend that he is.

That doesn’t make the scene in front of him any less embarrassing though.

“I’m a good friend of Yoonjo and his dad but we are not together. I am more than happy to be everyone’s friend though!”

Minho knows he shouldn’t feel hurt about Changbin calling him a friend, but it still gives him a pang in his chest. He sighs as he steps into the classroom, tapping Yoonjo on the head lightly and greeting Changbin and Felix.

“I told you to wait at the entrance, troublemaker.” Changbin looks a little embarrassed about the conversation he just had with the kids if the blush on his face is anything to go by. He still gives Minho a friendly smile and Minho mouths a silent “I’m so sorry” at him to hopefully convey that he will have a talk with Yoonjo about his choice of words later.


	3. New in town

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayooooo~
> 
> here's a little update on this one! :D
> 
> hope you guys will enjoy it - as always i hope you have a super fresh day/night!!

The restaurant is empty except for Yoonjo bothering Changbin and Felix with more questions an hour later. Minho puts their plates down on the table and tells Yoonjo to go wash his hands before eating, watching him climb off the chair and running towards the restrooms.

“I’m so sorry about earlier”, Minho starts but Changbin just chuckles.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s completely fine. Thank you for the meal!”

Felix thanks him as well and Yoonjo returns to join them to eat. Between bites, Minho learns that the abductions in the neighboring town still have not been solved but that Changbin and Felix have officially been asked to help out, which unfortunately means more work for them, though they both are more than happy to help.

Somehow, getting Yoonjo to go to sleep is always a struggle. Minho vaguely remembers himself as a child not being very different and curses his mother for always saying that he’ll have a child just like he once was.

He finally manages to convince Yoonjo to get some sleep and tucks him in with a tired sigh. Yoonjo blinks up at him with a thoughtful look on his face, rubbing the head of the tiger plushie in his little hands.

“What’s on your mind, Yoonie?”

Yoonjo hums for a moment. “Why are you and Binnie not in love?”

The question catches Minho off guard and he just stares at his son for a minute before he opens his mouth. “Why are you asking that?”

“You like Binnie and Binnie likes you. So why are you not together?”

Minho chuckles at Yoonjo’s blunt statement. “Well, we are friends. Just like you and Hayeon are friends. Would you say that you are in love with Hayeon?”

He fully expects his son to respond with a “Girls are gross!” but Yoonjo just thinks it over and nods. “Yes, I love Hayeon.”

Interesting. “Oh, well I didn’t know that. But you know, when you are older, sometimes things are not that easy. So Binnie and me are just friends.”

Yoonjo doesn’t seem happy about Minho’s explanation, but Minho makes it clear that there will be no further discussion by turning off the light and pressing a kiss to Yoonjo’s forehead before wishing him a good night.

**_Minho:_ ** _ so apparently yoonie is in love with hayeon _

**_Changbin:_ ** _ his classmate? _

**_Minho:_ ** _ correct. are kids not supposed to find the other gender gross until they’re like teenagers? _

**_Changbin:_ ** _ beats me but keep me updated on the love story! :D _

A soft laugh escapes Minho as he locks his phone and starts cleaning up Yoonjo’s toys in the living room. As he stuffs building blocks into a box, Minho’s thoughts drift towards the scene he witnessed last night and feels a smile creep onto his face. Watching Changbin care for Yoonjo, whether it’s because of a nightmare or just showing interest in his drawings, it always fills him with a warm feeling. In another world, it might have been something Minho gets to see every day, just like falling asleep on the couch next to Changbin. In another world, maybe Minho would be able to call Changbin something other than his friend.

Apparently, the day’s events fried Minho’s brain a little bit because just as he’s about to go to sleep, he remembers that he forgot to buy the groceries he ran out of and slides out of bed again.

Five minutes later, he is out the door and on his way down the street to the all night convenience store to pick up the necessities. Passing by the bar next to it, a man stumbles out of it and bumps into Minho, sending him to the ground. The guy is more than drunk and doesn’t even realize he just shoved someone, staggering down the street in the opposite direction.

“Hey, are you okay?” The voice calling out to Minho belongs to a man around his own age that Minho doesn’t recognize, which is rare in a town as small as this one. He stretches a hand out to him to help him up and smiles when he sees that Minho is not hurt.

“Thanks, I think I only bruised my ego.”

The guy laughs at Minho’s admittedly lame joke. “Glad to hear that.”

Looking at the man more closely now, Minho is sure that he hasn’t seen him around before. “Sorry, I’m just asking because, you know. Small town. Are you from here?”

The guy shakes his head. “Oh no, just moved here yesterday. I’m Jisung.”

“Minho.” They shake hands and Minho huffs a laugh. “Well, thank you for helping me up, Jisung.”


	4. Seo Changbin, part-time babysitter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayoooo~
> 
> i'm really sorry for not updating the past two days, please forgive me i haven't had time to write :(  
> i'll do my best to update daily again tho!
> 
> hope you will like this one and take care everyone! :)

“And so we exchanged numbers and I’m going to show him around a bit later today.”

Changbin is kind of losing his appetite over the delicious looking lunch as Minho is relaying what happened to him last night. He is not jealous, not at all. He is just worried for Minho in case this Jisung guy is a weird creep. That is all.

“Binnie, look at my report card!” Yoonjo interrupts Minho’s story time by shoving his report card onto the table and Changbin quickly moves his lunch away so the report card does not get dirty.

“Wow, that’s impressive! You did so well, Yoonie.” He pats Yoonjo’s head and digs a package of Yoonjo’s favorite snack out of his jacket pocket. “And since you did so well, I will give you this as a little present.”

Yoonjo squeals happily at the gift and hugs Changbin with surprising strength while Minho reminds him that he can only eat a snack after he finishes his lunch, prompting him to settle down next to Changbin again and start eating.

“Would you like me to look after Yoonie while you’re out?”, Changbin asks after a while and Minho smiles at him.

“Would you? I’m so sorry to bother you with it, I can ask our neighbor to check in on him if you’re busy-”

“Our neighbor is Moonyoung - she smells weird”, Yoonjo stage whispers to Changbin and Changbin has to bite his cheek to stop himself from laughing. 

Minho gives him a disapproving look. “I told you that you shouldn’t say that, it’s not nice.”

Yoonjo just shrugs and turns his attention back to the food while Changbin reassures Minho that he’s happy to spend some time with Yoonjo which Minho in turn thanks him for over and over again.

Somehow, Yoonjo ropes Changbin into building a puzzle with him later that day when he comes over to look after him while Minho goes on his… friend date. The puzzle honestly seems too difficult for a six year old, but Yoonjo is having fun so Changbin doesn’t mention it.

“Soooo… I heard from your dad that you like your friend Hayeon.” Okay, maybe that wasn’t very smooth but what can you do.

Yoonjo doesn’t look up from the puzzle pieces he’s separating into little piles on the floor. “Yes. Hayeon is nice and pretty. She gave me a dinosaur sticker.”

Oh young love - maybe Changbin should buy Minho some stickers. He quickly pushes the thought out of his head and checks the clock. Minho said that he’d be back at ten at the latest and there are still two hours to go until then. Unfortunately for Changbin, Yoonjo seems to be getting frustrated with the puzzle and is now sitting on the floor with his face in his hands, pouting.

“Can we watch tv, Binnie?”

“Sure. What would you like to watch?”

Apparently Changbin spoke the magic word because within a second, Yoonjo shoots up and bounces over to the couch, grabbing the remote.

He smiles at Yoonjo’s excitement and cleans up the puzzle pieces while Yoonjo flips through channels, looking for something he likes. Changbin thinks that he should probably steel himself for a discussion when Yoonjo’s bedtime comes around, but he will cross that bridge when he gets to it.

They spend another hour watching some animated kids show that Yoonjo apparently has a lot of thoughts and feelings about guessing by the amount of talking he does throughout the show.

Once the second episode ends, Changbin claps his thighs. “Alright, little man. We’re going on an adventure now, are you ready?”

Yoonjo looks at him with big eyes. “What adventure?”

“Hmmm… it’s an adventure that only really strong and cool and big kids can go on. I’m not sure if you can do it…”

“I can! I want to go!” Yoonjo jumps around on the couch and Changbin catches him before he trips and falls, carrying him off to the bathroom.

“To go on the adventure, you will first need to brush your teeth because all adventurers have to have really healthy teeth.”

He didn’t expect this strategy to work, but Changbin is pleasantly surprised that it does. Five minutes later, Yoonjo is in his bed with brushed teeth and cuddling his plushie.

“Can I go on the adventure now?”

Changbin ruffles his hair with a smile. “Okay so this adventure is called A journey in your mind. And for that you have to close your eyes.” Yoonjo looks doubtful but closes his eyes anyway. “Good, okay. So now picture yourself uh-” He looks around Yoonjo’s room and his eyes land on a plastic pirate ship on the dresser. “On a ship. A pirate ship and you’re sailing around the world with your friends, with Tiger and Hayeon and you’re looking for a treasure.”

As Changbin makes up some pirate story, Yoonjo at first lets out excited noises and gasps but soon after, he starts snoring and Changbin turns off the light and settles down on the couch in the living room again.

Minho should be home pretty soon and so Changbin gets comfortable and starts watching a movie that’s playing on tv right now. He tries to fight the exhaustion in him from working hard on the abduction case all day and from playing with Yoonjo, but he ultimately loses and drifts off to sleep, stretched out on the comfortable couch, head on the armrest.

Minho’s Friday night was overall very nice - Jisung is very upbeat and happy to meet some new people and once Minho showed him some pictures of Changbin and Yoonjo he seemed excited to meet them soon. They mostly just walked around town with Minho explaining different stores, restaurants, shops and buildings, stopping for dinner and ice cream in between.

“And this is my restaurant”, Minho explains as they stop outside the building. “You really didn’t have to walk me home.”

Jisung waves him off. “Please, it’s the least I can do for using you as a tour guide. Thanks again! I was thinking of throwing 

“I want to throw a little housewarming party on Monday when the rest of my furniture comes. I’d be happy if you and your son and maybe your friend would like to come.”

He seems embarrassed and a little shy to ask and Minho clasps a hand on his shoulder. “We’d love to, Yoonjo and I. I’ll ask Changbin as well.”

They say their goodbyes and Minho enters his apartment with a smile. As he crosses into the living room, he finds Changbin fast asleep on his couch and the warm feeling in his chest spreads again. He checks in on Yoonjo who is soundly sleeping in his bed and grabs an extra blanket from the linen closet, throwing it over the softly snoring Changbin.

Changbin stirs a little in his sleep but doesn’t wake up, just curls himself up more under the blanket and Minho fights the urge to reach out and smooth his hair back and kiss his forehead like he always does with Yoonjo. One of Changbin’s cheeks is squished against the armrest, turning his mouth into a pout and Minho forces himself to stop staring at him. He turns off the tv and gets ready for bed himself, careful not to make too much noise to wake anyone up.

As he slides into bed and pulls his covers up to his nose, he feels like his bed is much colder than it usually is.


	5. Little lies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyall~
> 
> i hope you're all doing well!! :)  
> i wanted to ask yall a little question because i can't decide on what to write next - would you prefer a fluffy/funny AU or a more serious/action AU?
> 
> i hope you all have the freshest day/night and enjoy! :D

One by one, everyone eventually sits down at the kitchen table for breakfast the next morning. Yoonjo wipes sleep from his eyes while Minho prepares breakfast and Changbin mumbles an apology about falling asleep last night before offering to make coffee.

“How was it last night? Did Yoonie give you any trouble?”

Changbin shakes his head as he carries the coffee mugs for Minho and himself over to the table, then walks back to make hot chocolate for Yoonjo. “No, we had a lot of fun. Didn’t we, Yoonie?”

Yoonjo hums in agreement and when Changbin glances back at him, it looks like he’s about to fall asleep again at the table. He hands him a mug of hot chocolate, cautioning him to wait a little bit for it to cool down, and Yoonjo’s eyes open a little wider.

Minho joins them at the table distributing eggs and bacon onto their plates before sitting down. “That’s good to hear. It was nice with Jisung last night too, he really wants to meet you. I think he wants to make some friends since he just moved here.” Changbin pulls a face for a moment and Minho wonders if something is wrong. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, sorry, nothing. Coffee was too hot.”

“Anyway, as I was saying. He’s inviting us to his housewarming party on Monday. Are you free?”

Yoonjo looks back and forth between Changbin and Minho. “Do we have to take blankets?”

The question confuses Minho as he directs his attention to his son. “What do you mean?”

“To be warm in his house.”

Both Changbin and Minho can’t hold back a laugh, especially when they see Yoonjo’s genuinely concerned face and Minho reaches over to pat his son’s head.

“No, it’s just called a housewarming party when someone moves into a new house. It doesn’t mean that the house is cold”, Minho explains and Yoonjo seems to think it over for a moment before he nods.

“Okay then we can go.”

Changbin has to leave pretty early to work an extra shift helping out with the abduction case and Minho still can’t shake the feeling that something is off. As he hands Changbin his jacket at the door, he asks again. “Everything okay?”

Yoonjo rushes over to them to hug Changbin’s legs as a goodbye and Changbin reassures Minho that everything is absolutely fine once more.

“So you’ll come on Monday? To Jisung’s?”

Changbin sighs. “I don’t think I can… I actually have a, uh, thing.”

He leaves their place a minute later and Minho stares after him as he takes the stairs down.

“Dad? Isn’t it bad to lie?”

Minho closes the door and looks down to Yoonjo staring at him, fiddling with his fingers. “It is.”

“Hmmm… Binnie lied.”

“I know.”

**_Minho:_ ** _ sorry to attack you with the invitation, i just told jisung i’d ask you since he said he wants to meet you and yoonjo _

**_Changbin:_ ** _ it’s fine, don’t worry! I’m busy on that day but maybe some other time _

Something is definitely off and Minho just can’t figure out what it is. He still thinks about it for the rest of the day, at home, at the restaurant and all the way to the playground where he’s watching Yoonjo on the swingset.

**_Minho:_ ** _ hi it’s me again! Yoonjo and I will come on Monday if your offer still stands, changbin is unfortunately busy (probably work) but he said he’ll come next time _

**_Jisung:_ ** _ oh sorry to hear that but i’m happy i’ll get to meet Yoonjo! By the way, do you know the guy working at the convenience store? The pretty one with the long hair? _

**_Minho:_ ** _ that’s Hyunjin, why? _

**_Jisung:_ ** _ i accidentally almost broke his nose today and he threatened to run me out of town :( _

**_Minho:_ ** _ he’ll come around don’t worry :) _

**_Jisung:_ ** _ on an unrelated note, i have a super hot neighbor with a little daughter, do you by any chance know a dad around our age with an accent? _

**_Minho:_ ** _ are you using me like the yellow pages? you live two blocks away from the school right? _

**_Jisung:_ ** _ you just know everyone, help a brother out :( and yes! _

**_Minho:_ ** _ then that’s chan. he’s nice - apparently my son is in love with his daughter. _

**_Jisung:_ ** _ thank you!!! :D is he married or can i ask him out _

**_Minho:_ ** _ he’s divorced as far as i know _

**_Jisung:_ ** _ i’ll take my chances! _

The text conversation makes Minho pause and think. It could be this easy. In another world.


	6. A "thing"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayooooo~
> 
> i'm double updating this one today bc i didn't post the other two days and the last chapter was real short :(
> 
> hope you like it!!! :D

Even though he’s had three coffees, Changbin is barely half awake at ten in the morning on Monday. He’s been working overtime to look into the abduction cases while still working on paperwork on regular cases and between that, he really has not gotten enough time to rest.

Felix shoots him a sympathetic look as he hands him yet another mug of coffee and pushes some new case updates onto his desk.

Changbins accepts the coffee gratefully but sighs as his eyes land on the new stack of files. “Thanks. Do you have an updated address on Cho by the way? He stole a bike last week again and I need to inform his guardians.”

Felix shakes his head and sits down at his desk again, already fully immersed in the ongoing case by the time Changbin gets up to go to the front desk. Maybe Minyeon will have some more info. What he finds at the front desk is a bored Minyeon looking through files while blowing bubble gum bubbles and a guy around Changbin’s age on the other side of the counter wanting to make a report.

“Oh great, an officer. Hi, I just wanted to report my bike as stolen-”

Changbin eyes the guy for a moment before looking over at Minyeon’s unimpressed face. “Can you send me Cho’s address?”

The man on the other side of the counter looks confused. “Uhm, are you here to take my report?”

Changbin sighs and looks at the guy in front of him. “I’m pretty sure I already know who has your bike. Give Minyeon your address and we’ll return it to you.”

The man musters Changbin with a doubtful look for a moment before it seems like a lightbulb has gone off in his brain. “You’re Changbin!”

Definitely strange - Changbin doesn’t recognize this guy at all and raises his eyebrows. “Sorry, do I know you?”

“I’m Jisung, Minho’s friend. He told me about you - well, he showed me a picture so I recognized you.”

Jisung seems excited and stretches his hand over the counter to shake Changbin’s but Changbin keeps his distance, eyeing him up and down. He doesn’t seem particularly strange or off-putting but him going on a date with Minho still leaves a bad aftertaste in Changbin’s mouth.

“Okay, nice to meet you.”

Jisung’s smile falls and he retracts his hand. “I heard that you’ll be busy working tonight… would you be free some other time?”

Minyeon looks up at Jisung and then at Changbin. “You have an early off day today.”

Even on good days, Changbin wants nothing to do with Minyeon but right now he really wishes they never hired her at the station. “I’m busy with something else.”

Jisung raises his eyebrows at him and seems embarrassed. “Oh okay, understood. No worries, some other time then!”

“Leave your address here.” Minyeon pushes a form over to him without looking up from her phone and Changbin takes that as his cue to leave and get back to work.

Two hours later, Changbin stops outside Jisung’s ridiculously nice house. He rolls his eyes as he presses the doorbell, neon purple bicycle by his side. Who would get a bike in this color anyway?

The buzzer sounds to let Changbin through the gate and Jisung comes rushing out of the house with a big smile. “You found my bike! How did you find it so quickly?”

Changbin hands the bike over to a happy Jisung. “We got a local teen who loves to steal bikes. Make sure to lock it properly in the future.”

“Of course! Thank you so much”, Jisung replies. “Would you like to come in for a coffee or are you already on the way to your… uh, thing.”

Changbin is not sure what Jisung is trying to imply with the way he says that last word but he doesn’t really want to spend much time with him anyway and bids him goodbye, leaving through the gate with a grumpy face.

The first thing Minho notices is that Jisung’s house looks really nice. It’s also way too big for one person.

“Will you be living alone here?”

Jisung returns from his kitchen with two glasses of wine and a glass of orange juice for Yoonjo, setting all glasses down onto the coffee table in the living room. “Oh no, my friend Jeongin is currently still packing, he’ll be moving in with me pretty soon.”

“How old is Jeongin? Where does he live? Does he have a pet?”

Jisung laughs at Yoonjo’s questions as he picks up the wine glasses and hands one to Minho. “He’s a little bit younger than me but he’s a little bit older than you. And he will live here in a little bit and maybe one day we will have a pet.”

Yoonjo’s eyes widen at the answer. “Can I come visit your pet then?”

Twenty minutes later, Yoonjo has forgotten all about the pet and looks through Jisung’s extensive collection of comic books while Minho and Jisung continue chatting on the couch. Jisung filled Minho in on what happened earlier that day with Changbin and as he tells the story, Minho’s mood sours.

“And I offered him a coffee but I guess he was in a hurry to get to his date”, Jisung finishes and drinks the rest of his wine.

“Wait, what? Changbin’s on a date?”

Jisung is confused about Minho’s reaction. “I mean, I think so yeah. He didn’t really get into detail about what this mysterious thing he has is but to me it kinda sounded like a date.”

Minho has absolutely no right to feel jealous, Changbin is not his boyfriend. But he still kind of does. “Did he say anything else?”

“No, but I don’t think he likes me very much. Is he usually that cold?”

That is definitely strange. Changbin is the most warm-hearted person Minho knows - especially considering the fact how he’s always treated Minho and Yoonjo with nothing but kindness even during difficult times.

“No, he really isn’t. That’s weird.”

Jisung pouts while Yoonjo makes  _ oohs  _ and  _ ahs  _ at the comic books. “Tell me how I can befriend him!”


	7. Misunderstandings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyoooo!
> 
> tomorrow's update will be a little late in the day bc i have like 20 hours of sleep to catch up on slghsldkgh
> 
> but pls enjoy this for now and i hope you have a great start to the weekend! :D

The mood is somber at the restaurant and after finally having been able to console Yoonjo enough to play with his toys a few tables over, Minho joins Changbin, Felix and Chan at the table again.

“I just can’t believe this is really happening”, Chan croaks out with a shot voice, tears threatening to fall again, “This only happens on tv!”

Felix pats him on the back in an effort to comfort him and refills his glass with water. “Don’t worry, we will do our best to find Hayeon. We have twenty police officers on the case here right now, plus the task force from the other town. We’ll find her in no time.”

Hayeon had gone to the playground only one block away from Chan’s house and hadn’t come back for lunch as she always did. After looking for her for a while, Chan still couldn’t find her and showed up at the police station in a hysterical panic. Now, hours later with the sky beginning to darken, Felix and Changbin were forced by the captain to end their shift and hand the investigation over to the other officers until tomorrow, though the two of them protested as much as they could.

Minho’s eyes drift from Chan over to Changbin who is staring into his glass with a thoughtful look, mind undoubtedly still stuck on the case.

“Is there anything I can help with?” He knows there probably isn’t, but he feels like he should at least offer to help.

There’s a knock on the door to the restaurant and Minho gets up to check who it is. He put the closed sign outside as soon as Felix, Changbin and Chan came over, but now all he finds outside is Jisung, who he had asked to bring over some anxiety pills that he had for Chan.

“Good that you’re here, thanks for coming so quickly.”

Jisung smiles at him. “Of course, anytime.”

As soon as Jisung enters the restaurant, all eyes are on him. Felix sends him a friendly wave while Chan seems to be surprised that his neighbor is here and Changbin’s eyes are furrowed, completing the scowl on his face.

“Guys, this is Jisung. Jisung, that’s Changbin and Felix from the police and Chan, who you know.” The introduction is short and Jisung greets them and hands the medication over to Chan.

“It’s not a prescription one, just something to help you calm down a bit. I’m sure this is a terrible, stressful situation.”

Minho thinks it’s kind of cute to see Jisung be flustered and awkward in front of Chan when he usually seems pretty confident and he slides over one seat to sit across from Changbin and let Jisung sit across from Chan, giving them some space to talk.

Felix excuses himself not long after, saying that he still needs to run some errands before heading home and leaves just after seven. Once the door closes, Minho leans forward, eyes fixed on Changbin.

“I heard you went on a date last night.”

Changbin’s head snaps up and he looks at Minho with a mix of confusion and surprise. “A what now?”

“You went on a date, no?”

Changbin still looks confused. “Who said that? I didn’t.”

Minho is starting to think that maybe Jisung got this all wrong and somehow he feels extremely relieved, though he has no reason to be. He feels his ears heat up and looks away from Changbin to hide the smile spreading across his face. “Oh, I see, uh, nevermind then…”

No one has to know about how Minho’s heart is doing little jumps in his chest without him having a say in it.

“You went on a date, no?”

The question hits Changbin like a bucket full of ice water. Next to him, Chan grabs another tissue that Jisung hands over to him, trying to battle another round of tears. Did Jisung tell Minho that he went on a date? Come to think of it, Jisung hasn’t interacted much with Minho since he entered the restaurant and for some reason it makes Changbin kind of annoyed with him even more. Why would you just ignore a perfectly good Minho?

Changbin is still staring at Minho and realizes he should probably answer Minho’s question. “Who said that? I didn’t.”

His thoughts drift away from him again and he wonders if maybe Minho has an unrequited interest in Jisung, but it makes his heart hurt to think about that, so he pushes the thought away.

Minho is mumbling and pointedly looking down at the table, averting Changbin’s gaze.

“Dad, I’m hungry!” Yoonjo comes rushing over to the table, a picture book in his hand.

Changbin and Minho stretch out their arms to pick Yoonjo up and Changbin feels a deep blush spread across his cheeks. Awkward. Minho just looks at him for a moment with a strange expression before he turns back to Yoonjo and sits him down on his lap, while Changbin awkwardly retracts his arms and fumbles with the tablecloth.

Of course, it’s not lost on Changbin that they act way too domestic sometimes, Minho, Yoonjo and him. But every time he just reminds himself that he basically watched Yoonjo grow up and ignores the nagging voice in the back of his head. That does not make it any less awkward right now though, with Chan and Jisung watching them with an amused look.

“I think I’m going to go home and wait until there’s news from the police”, Chan sighs, clearly exhausted. Jisung gets up just a moment after him and offers to walk home with him since they live next to each other, which Chan gratefully accepts. They leave after thanking Minho and saying their goodbyes, leaving Changbin and Minho in an uncomfortable silence. Yoonjo looks between the two of them with a thoughtful expression, still holding on to his book.

“Dad, can we eat now? Are you staying, Binnie?”

Minho puts Yoonjo down and gets up to collect his toys to go upstairs and eat dinner. Changbin just kind of sits there and smiles at Yoonjo’s expectant face.

“Uhm, I should go home now, Yoonie. But we can hang out again some other time.”

Yoonjo whines at the response and Minho turns to them, calling over his shoulder, “Join us for dinner, Bin.”


	8. Vanished into thin air

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys! :D
> 
> updates on the news au will come tomorrow bc i slept off my hangover for the most day and didn't feel like writing, my apologies :(  
> we're nearing the end on this one!
> 
> I hope you're all having a good day and get to relax a bit :)

The last thing Changbin needs on his day off after working double shifts for the abduction cases the whole week is for his phone to wake him up with some annoying pop song. Yoonjo set the song for him last winter and Changbin is too lazy to change it so it just stayed his ringtone. It doesn’t really matter much since he always has it on silent anyway. Except for today.

For some godforsaken reason, Changbin left his phone volume on over night, which is why he is now angrily blinking at his phone. It’s almost noon and Minho is calling him, which is not particularly out of the ordinary but when he doesn’t pick up in time, Minho calls him back immediately and that is definitely not normal. Minho usually just sends a text to call him back later.

“Hi Min-”

“He’s gone! Bin, he’s gone! I looked everywhere and I can’t find him and-”

Minho’s voice is frantic and he lets out broken sobs here and there and Changbin sits up in his bed with a jolt. He tries to calm Minho down a bit to understand what happened as he puts on clothes with lightning speed.

Apparently Minho had sent Yoonjo over to the convenience store to get milk for the restaurant and Yoonjo still hadn’t come back after twenty minutes. The convenience store is only two minutes away and Minho went into search mode right away, looking for Yoonjo everywhere but coming up empty.

“I’m on my way to you right now”, Changbin says as he rushes out his front door, “Call the station and report it. I’ll be right there.”

It hurts Changbin’s heart to see Minho when he reaches the restaurant. Minho is sitting on the doorstep outside, talking to one of Changbin’s colleagues about what happened, his face buried in his hands, his shoulders shaking.

Even back when Yoonjo was still a baby and Minho had more than enough troubles to deal with, Changbin has never seen him in a shape as bad as he is now.

When Minho hears Changbin’s voice, he looks up with bloodshot eyes and runs to pull him into a tight hug. Changbin holds him close for a moment, patting his back before pulling away a bit. 

“Go inside, I’ll be right there. I’ll talk to the officer for a moment.”

He watches Minho disappear into the restaurant and then turns his attention to his colleague. “Prioritize the case. Get together with Felix and the task force, it’s likely this is connected to the other cases. Let me know immediately if you find anything.”

“I shouldn’t have let him go… I shouldn’t have made him go there alone… I’m a horrible father”, Minho chokes out with a broken voice as he leans against Changbin’s chest. They’re sitting at the corner table and all Changbin can do is hold Minho and let him cry.

“It’s not your fault, Min… Or Yoonie’s. He will be back faster than you can think, I promise you.”

Minho pulls back to stare at him with an angry look. “You don’t know that!”

Changbin knows that Minho’s anger is not directed at him and he pulls him close again. Minho curls up further into him and sniffles quietly. “I will do everything I can to bring him back to you.”

After a while, Changbin manages to convince Minho to go up to his apartment and sits him down on the couch with a cup of tea. For a little bit, Minho just sits there with an empty look, knees pulled up against his chest, staring at the wall.

It’s too quiet in the apartment and Changbin doesn’t really know what to say or do to help Minho - he’s just as worried about Yoonjo as Minho is and not really a great help right now. So he does the only thing he can right now, care for Minho. He quietly pulls out some groceries from the fridge and tries his best to make something edible while Minho is still frozen in the living room.

He joins Minho a little while later with a bowl full of soup and puts it down on the coffee table before repositioning Minho on the couch. Changbin gently takes the tea mug away and pushes Minho’s legs down so he can properly sit and eat before handing him the bowl.

“Careful, it’s hot.”

For what seems like the first time, Minho turns to look at him. The anger from earlier is gone and he just looks exhausted, miserable, scared and Changbin can’t help but stroke a gentle hand across his hair, smoothing a few strands back away from Minho’s face. Minho is still just looking at him, not even moving a muscle and Changbin tries his best to put on a comforting smile as he takes the bowl from Minho’s hands again and feeds him the soup in silence.

It seems as if Minho is on autopilot and just goes along with everything and it breaks Changbin’s heart to see the usually so confident and funny Minho as a hollow shell.

Once Minho has finished the soup, Changbin gets up to put the empty bowl away, but Minho’s hand reaches out to hold him by the wrist.

“Don’t go.”

Minho’s voice is so quiet and pleading that it makes Changbin want to cry. He turns to look at him. “I’ll just put this in the sink, I’ll be right back.”

Minho shakes his head and gets up as well, following Changbin to the kitchen and not once letting go of Changbin’s wrist. The tight grip he has on him eventually kind of restricts Changbin’s blood flow and he manages to get his wrist free and interlace their fingers instead. He does end up needing two free hands to wash the dishes and Minho reluctantly lets go and instead back hugs him, burying his face in Changbin’s shoulder. The ghost of Minho’s breath tickles Changbin’s neck and at any other time, Changbin would have had a hard time controlling himself and not just pushing Minho up against his fridge and kissing him.

Right now though, Changbin just wants to be there for him and as soon as he is done with the dishes and turns off the faucet, Minho spins him around to press him against the counter, embracing him in a tight hug.

“Thank you”, he mumbles into Changbin’s shirt and Changbin brings up his hands to stroke soothing patterns over Minho’s back. “Thank you for everything.”

After they have eaten, Minho drags Changbin into his bedroom and just flops down on the bed with him, immediately curling up next to him. Changbin can feel his heart racing and he hopes that Minho can’t tell as he rubs his face into Changbin’s chest.

“Please stay”, Minho pleads with a whisper. “I can’t be alone, right now.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

For a while, they just lie like this, Changbin staring up at the ceiling and holding Minho close as broken sobs escape him now and then. Changbin has to convince him for ten minutes to let him get some water for Minho and as soon as Minho has finished the glass and put it on the nightstand, he pulls Changbin down onto the bed again. 

Every so often, Minho’s hands would curl into Changbin’s t-shirt, pulling him just a little bit closer, as if he’s afraid that Changbin will just vanish if he doesn’t hold him as close as possible. The sun rays through the window fade away bit by bit and come evening, Minho is slowly tracing patterns into Changbin’s chest.

By now, Changbin feels like his mind is drunk and his skin is on fire. Sure, Minho and him have cuddled before but not like this. It feels… different.

“Yoonie loves you, you know.”

Minho’s voice suddenly sounds loud in the silence and Changbin turns his head slightly to find Minho looking at him with tired eyes. They are so close that their noses are almost touching and Changbin wills himself to not close the distance between them. This wouldn’t be fair to Minho, not now.

“I love him too”, Changbin responds after a minute, “I will bring him back. You’ll see.”

Minho hums in response and closes his eyes and within a few breaths, he is fast asleep.

Changbin makes sure Minho is fully, completely asleep before he gently disentangles himself from Minho’s hold and slides out of bed. He scribbles Minho a note to let him know he went out to help looking for Yoonjo and that he will be back very soon. As he places the note on the bed next to Minho, he takes in his sleeping form for a moment, finally peaceful, and leaves.


	9. Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello everyone! :D
> 
> i'm once again sorry for not posting over the weekend :(  
> unfortunately i'm super swamped at work at the moment so there might only be one or two updates until the weekend, i'm sorry in advance!
> 
> i hope you're all having a good start to the week tho! :)

There are sun rays streaming into his bedroom when Minho wakes up and he feels cold, extremely cold. The previous day replays through his mind and he feels like crying again. He searches his apartment for ten minutes in a panic before he actually finds and reads through the crumpled note Changbin left him that Minho must have buried under the blankets in his sleep and he feels like he can breathe at least a little bit easier.

He can always reach Changbin, unlike Yoonjo. The tears start to well up in his eyes again and Minho presses his hands against his eyes to prevent them from falling. He needs to calm down and think rationally. He calls the police station to find out if there have been any updates and if he can be of any help but they tell him that there’s no news to report and so Minho finds himself on his couch again, just staring out of the window like a zombie until the sky outside turns dark again and he sees red and blue lights flash outside.

Minho’s heart stops when he sees the lights and it feels like he can’t breathe. They must be here to tell him bad news, they could only find his remains, they are sorry, they hope he can move on. Something inside him snaps and the tears stream freely over his cheeks now.

He hears the door code being punched in - Changbin, for sure, nobody else knows the code to his apartment, and he waits, holding his breath.

Minho doesn’t dare to move from his spot on the couch until Changbin steps into the living room with Yoonjo on his arm and Minho can’t hold back the relieved sobs coming out of him. Changbin puts Yoonjo down on the ground, who immediately runs towards Minho and throws his little arms around him, saying over and over that he is sorry for not bringing the milk.

Changbin watches them for a moment, Minho kissing Yoonjo’s forehead and holding him close, not able to stop crying. His hands itch to hold them, both Minho and Yoonjo, who he found waiting in an empty room of a warehouse just outside of town. The kidnapper didn’t even try to tie them up or do anything to them and Changbin is endlessly grateful for it. The guy they caught, after Changbin searched every inch between their town and the next all day with the task force, was obsessed with collecting children since he lost his own in a car accident and was clearly not mentally stable. They were lucky to find the kids well fed and not assaulted, molested or worse.

Minho eventually gets up from the couch and lets go of Yoonjo only reluctantly to rush over to Changbin and embrace him tightly. 

Changbin can feel the pain, the relief, the thankfulness, as Minho smiles against his neck, cheeks still wet from the tears. “Thank you, Bin. Thank you. Thank you so much.”

He hugs Minho back just as tightly, endlessly happy to have Yoonjo back in his life and to have Minho, the old Minho, back as well. Minho leans back slightly, laughing at him through the tears, the emotions clearly overwhelming him, and he presses a firm, short kiss to Changbin’s lips before Changbin can even react to it.

The short contact leaves Changbin reeling, staring at Minho with wide eyes, who pulls away again and picks up Yoonjo in his arms.

“Thank you so much, Bin.”

Changbin has to leave to finish up paperwork on the abduction case and Minho just can’t bring himself to really let go of Yoonjo for the rest of the evening, eventually settling in with Yoonjo in his way too small bed, even though Yoonjo protests.

“I promise I won’t go anywhere, Dad!” He squirms around and tries to get out of Minho’s hug but Minho just pulls him closer.

“Okay, good. I’m not going anywhere either.”

Yoonjo huffs and puffs for a little bit and eventually Minho can tell he is getting sleepy. Before he drifts off to dreamland, he snuggles a bit closer to Minho and sighs.

“Binnie is my hero. He punched the bad guy and he didn’t even cry when the bad guy punched back.”

Minho hums. “Even so, you shouldn’t punch anyone. And don’t go with any strangers.”

Yoonjo nods against Minho’s chest. “Binnie saved me and Hayeon and the other kids like Iron Man.”


	10. At last

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!!! :D
> 
> i'm finally getting more confidence in my new job and i'm two beers into the night so i will hopefully continue writing more for the other story tonight~  
> we have reached the end of this one and i have to admit that i have a bit of a soft spot for this story mainly because of how domestic it is :(  
> as always i would like to take a moment to thank you all for the lovely comments, i really can't express how much they cheer me up each time i post something, you guys deserve the world! <3
> 
> i hope you all enjoyed this one and I wish you all a great day/night! :)

The next morning starts very differently for Changbin and Minho. While Minho is busy making a three course breakfast for Yoonjo and is determined to spend the entire day without taking his eyes off him even for a second, Changbin wakes up close to noon with a smile on his face and rolls around in his bed trying to hold back happy noises.

Minho kissed him. Sure, there were a lot of emotions all over the place yesterday, but Yoonjo is finally safe back where he belongs and Minho  _ kissed  _ him! And even if he never gets a kiss from him again, that will be enough.

Meanwhile, a couple blocks away, Minho is watching his son devour an entire stack of pancakes with a fond smile. He can’t thank the police and Changbin enough for bringing Yoonjo back and he just feels endlessly relieved and happy.

“Dad, does Binnie like toys?”, Yoonjo mumbles around a mouthful of pancakes and it pulls Minho out of his thoughts again.

“I’m not sure… why are you asking?”

After receiving a disapproving look from Minho, Yoonjo swallows his food first before continuing to speak. “I want to give him a toy to say thank you for taking me home.”

A chuckle escapes Minho and he gets up to get a glass of water for Yoonjo. “How about we take Binnie out for a picnic? It’s a nice summer day so you can go to the playground and play and we can make him some food as a thank you.”

A little extra mission is apparently all it takes to convince his son to abandon breakfast and he runs off into his room yelling out that he will be looking for games to play at the picnic. Minho smiles to himself and clears off the breakfast table, his mind wandering back to last night. He had kissed Changbin, he definitely remembers that, though everything was chaotic and messy yesterday. He has two options now, he thinks. He can either pretend it never happened and move on, which Changbin would probably prefer in order to avoid embarrassment. Or he can apologize and endure the awkward atmosphere before they go back to normal.

Somehow, Minho is drunk on a rush of new found confidence and wants to take a third option.

**_Minho:_ ** _ Yoonie and I want to thank you with a picnic today, are you free? _

Changbin stares at the message for a good ten minutes and has to check his pulse in order to make sure he’s not dying from a Minho-induced heart attack. Of course, Minho being sweet to him is just making his whole unrequited feelings drama worse, but hey - who would say no to a picnic?

**_Changbin:_ ** _ You don’t have to! But I’d love to :) _

The summer breeze feels nice on their skin when they meet up in the afternoon at the little park and Minho unfolds a picnic blanket just a little distance away from the playground. The sky is blue and cloudless and there’s a few kids already climbing, sliding and laughing at the playground.

While Changbin and Minho get everything set up, Yoonjo impatiently runs around them. “Can we go play now?”

Minho snorts in response. “I thought you wanted to hang out with Binnie to say thank you?”

Both him and Changbin sit down on the picnic blanket and Minho watches as Yoonjo throws his little arms around Changbin’s neck in a hug. Changbin’s little giggle tugs on his heart strings and he busies himself with unpacking food and drinks.

“Thank you again, Binnie!”

“Anytime, kiddo.” Changbin hugs Yoonjo back for a moment. “Are you okay here for a moment, Min? I’ll go and play with Yoonie for a bit so you can relax.”

The past few days must have been hard on Minho and Changbin wants to give him an opportunity to just have a moment of peace while someone he can trust watches over Yoonjo.

Changbin’s offer makes Minho melt inside a little and he has to clear his throat before he answers. “Okay, but be careful!”

“I’m always careful, Dad!”

“I was talking to Binnie”, Minho replies and sends a wink to Changbin, feeling even giddier when he sees Changbin’s flustered expression.

For a while, Minho just sits there watching Changbin and Yoonjo on the playground and it suddenly seems to him as if the whole world was a little brighter, a little more colorful. Something changed in the last couple days and though Minho can’t put a finger on what exactly it is, he feels invincible and a little reckless.

From a distance he can hear Yoonjo demanding Changbin to push him higher on the swing set which Changbin is happy to do even though he keeps reminding him to hold on tight.

Maybe, just maybe, it is time to stop worrying and overthinking.

Unfortunately, Changbin can’t keep up with Yoonjo’s youthful energy and eventually returns back to the picnic blanket where Minho is sitting cross legged, handing him a bottle of water.

“I told him to stick to the side of the playground where we can see him. He’ll probably come back in a few minutes anyway because I hyped up the food you guys brought.”

He sits down with a sigh and raises an eyebrow at Minho. “Why are you just staring at me?”

Minho reaches out to Changbin and holds his hand, eyes crinkled at the corners and a soft smile on his face. “I know I’ve said it a million times, but thank you. Not just for bringing Yoonie back but you know… for everything. Being there when we didn’t have anyone.”

He can tell that Changbin is about to protest and say that that’s just what friends do, but Minho doesn’t want to hear that right now and cuts him off before he can get a word in edgewise. “I love you, Seo Changbin. I’ve loved you for years and I love you now and I will keep loving you.”

Changbin’s eyes widen at Minho’s words and his mouth just hangs open for a moment, wordlessly staring at Minho.

When he doesn’t say anything for a while and his shocked expression doesn’t change, Minho feels doubts and embarrassment and hurt rising in him. He shouldn’t have said that, he should have just kept his mouth shut, he should have-

“I love you too.”

Now it’s Minho’s turn to be surprised while Changbin’s face is slowly overtaken by a bright smile.

“I’m glad. I’ve been in love with you for a long time.”

“What? I- how? You never said-”

“Neither did you.”

Good point. A moment of silence passes until the nagging voice is back in Minho’s brain. “Won’t this… cause problems for you?”

Changbin looks confused for a moment before he huffs out a laugh and leans forward, pulling Minho closer to him and drawing him into a soft, gentle kiss, one of his hands slowly combing through the hair on the back of Minho’s head. Minho relaxes into the kiss and after a minute or so, they both pull apart with matching smiles on their faces.

“You could never be a problem”, Changbin eventually answers.

“Do you love each other like I love Hayeon now?” Yoonjo’s question makes them both whip their heads towards him - they didn’t even hear him come back.

Changbin nods at Yoonjo with a smile and waits for him to sit down on the blanket before sharing a bread bun with him.

And while Yoonjo talks about the Spiderman shirt one of the other kids on the playground was wearing, Changbin and Minho exchange a cheerful grin and scoot closer together, the three of them on their picnic blanket on a summer’s day - finally, a small happy family.

**Author's Note:**

> as always i appreciate your thots on this so pls lemme know if you'd be interested in me continuing this one! :)
> 
> i wish you all an amazingly fresh day/night!


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